Trump Disqualified from Maine’s Presidential Primary

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, would be excluded from the primary election ballot ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to Maine, U.S. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. 

RELATED:

Happy to Be in Venezuela, Happy to Help Venezuela, Says Saab

The decision was made under the protection of the insurrection clause of the Constitution, considering his involvement in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. This violates the third section of the 14th Amendment that establishes that public officials cannot abuse their positions to call for insurrection.

Maine Secretary of state is this way the first election official to take action unilaterally as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to decide whether Trump will be able to move forward with his campaign.

Although the decision can be appealed to that state's courts, the Supreme Court is expected to decide in early 2024 whether or not Trump stays in the election race.

Maine's decision shows the potential risks Trump could face, as this state selects its Electoral College representatives by congressional district, and in both 2016 and 2020, Trump won in one of them. If he were not on the ballot, his 2024 campaign would start with one less vote.

In response, Trump's campaign team assured that a legal objection will be filed immediately to prevent the decision from going into effect, and called the event "an attempt to steal an election."

Last December 19, the state of Colorado banned Trump from running in the primaries on constitutional grounds. However, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold later announced that the former president would be included on the ballot, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise.